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Quennville fired

Slumping Blackhawks fire coach Joel Quenneville

The Chicago Blackhawks fired coach Joel Quenneville on Tuesday.

Quenneville, who won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks, had been with the team since 2008 and was the longest-tenured coach in the NHL. He is the second-winningest coach in NHL history, compiling 890 wins with St. Louis, Colorado and Chicago; only Scotty Bowman (1,244) has more.

Chicago promoted its AHL coach, Jeremy Colliton, 33, who becomes the youngest head coach in the NHL.

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said of Quenneville's firing: "Definite shock. I didn't think there was going to be a change for a while."

Owner Rocky Wirtz released a statement saying the team parted with Quenneville with his "full support."

"As Chicago Blackhawks fans have seen over the last decade, this organization no longer shies away from making tough decisions or ones based on emotion," Wirtz's statement read. "Those days are long behind us. Of course, Joel's was difficult, as it should have been. During his tenure as head coach to the Chicago Blackhawks, Joel brought the city of Chicago and our fans three Stanley Cups and an incredible era of hockey."

Last season, the Blackhawks missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. They were without starting goaltender Corey Crawford for most of the season. Crawford returned this season but the Blackhawks are 6-6-3, the second-worst record in the Central Division. After a quick start, they've taken only one of a possible 10 points.

Joel Quenneville is one of three head coaches to win all his Stanley Cup Finals, with a minimum of three appearances.

The Blackhawks also fired assistant coaches Kevin Dineen and Ulf Samuelsson. Barry Smith, 66, was named an assistant coach on Colliton's staff.

"This is certainly a very difficult decision," general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement. "But I believe it is in the best interests of the Blackhawks organization. We need to maximize each and every opportunity with our playoff goals in mind and create continued growth and development throughout our roster at the same time. After much deliberation the last several days, with great respect to what Joel has meant to the Blackhawks, we knew we had to make a change.

"Along with our appreciation for everything Joel has accomplished for our franchise, we also thank Kevin and Ulf for their many contributions and wish them success in the future."

Toews played his rookie season and the first four games of his second year under Denis Savard before the coach was fired and replaced by Quenneville. Toew had nothing but praise for Quenneville, but he said that the team has to embrace this change.

"At the end of the day everyone has to commit to the new look and new energy in the room," he said.

Colliton was in his second season as the Rockford Ice Hogs head coach, the top affiliate of the Blackhawks. Rockford made it to its first AHL Western Conference finals last season.

Prior to joining the Blackhawks organization, Colliton spent four seasons as the head coach of Mora IK in Sweden (HockeyAllsvenskan).

Colliton was a second-round pick (58th overall) of the New York Islanders in the 2003 NHL draft. He appeared in 57 NHL games across five seasons with the Islanders, recording three goals and three assists.

Last season, there were no in-season coaching changes in the NHL for the first time since the Original Six expansion. Quenneville's departure marks the second firing in a week. The Los Angeles Kings fired John Stevens over the weekend, replacing him with Willie Desjardins.

Two time winner of the "Zukes" Cup (2011, 2012)

Jagr tells the crowd that he wanted to make a beautiful goal but ... "It hit my ass," he said.

"You know what was great, was today one of his fans mooned me, and he had Happy, written on his ass, HA on one cheek, and then sure enough PPY, right there on the other" ~ Shooter McGavin